


when words won't suffice

by BeLikeTheBluebird



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 4 + 1, Lots of kissing, M/M, bc im too lazy for a 5+1, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22488526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeLikeTheBluebird/pseuds/BeLikeTheBluebird
Summary: five times seb matthew-smith sang for carlos rodriguez.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	when words won't suffice

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh yeah have fun

The first time Seb plays a love song for Carlos, it’s unintentional. It was about a week and a half before they started dating, in the middle of free period. Seb was sitting alone in the auditorium, “ignoring” Natalie’s texts about Elliot. He loved that girl dearly, but not nearly as much as he loved Roger and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!. Truly a musical for his inner farm boy.

Today, as he played, he had a certain choreographer on his mind. He thought back to a text he had received from Nini a few days earlier about how physically affectionate him and Carlos were. He flipped through his accompaniment book (the old drama teacher had asked him to fill in for the sick pianist back in the sixth grade. Your mother and Miss Jacobson being in the same book club had its perks). He landed on an old favorite of his: “People Will Say We’re in Love.”

He found himself engulfed in the music. It wasn’t until he heard a hoot and holler from backstage that he realized other people were in the room with him. He cringed internally. People had heard him try and turn the duet into a solo? God, what if it was Miss Jenn? What if she realized how horrible he was and would give Sharpay to Gina? He loved Gina but Sharpay was everything to him and-

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Carlos’ voice. “Sebby!” the younger teen cried. “That was so great. We should do Oklahoma next year and you should play like, all the parts.”

Seb blushed a little, looking down at his hands, still pressed on the piano. “Thanks” He paused for a moment, debating if he should play another tune. He decided against it, blurting out “Hey, why are you here? I know Natalie’s looking for her hamster, so did she send you here?” 

Carlos half-shook his head. “Technically, she asked me to check Miss Jenn’s room. But I needed an escape. Mr. Mazzara almost took my phone that’s how much she texted me. I swear, it’s problematic.”

Seb laughed. “If she asks, I’m running Bop to the Top. With my luck, Rico’s gonna have laryngitis on show day and be unable to sing.” 

Carlos shook his head. “Nah, Rico’s good.” He stared at the ground, tracing small circles with his white converse- a rare commodity for him- before finally speaking up. “Do you have an Instagram? Like for your singing? Or piano? If not, you should. You’d be famous in like, minutes”

Seb’s eyes darted around the room. “I do. But it’s private. You can follow it. I think it’s SebMSmithSings or something.” 

Carlos typed the username in, before getting a call from Natalie. He muttered a cuss under his breath before mouthing to Seb “gotta go!” and booking it. 

Seb glanced down at his phone. 

[sebmsmithsings]: carlos oscar rodriguez☆ (@broadwaystarlos) has requested to follow you. 

Seb smiled at the notification and glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes left of free period. He set up the camera function on his phone before playing the song again and posting it. 

Within the first five minutes, Carlos had liked it. 

The second time Seb had played a love song for Carlos, it had been at the El Rey. The two were sitting in the very back row on the balcony, all alone. Carlos, still in his moping mood from earlier, sat in a chair. Seb sat on the stairwell, his ukelele sitting in front of him. 

In between M&M’s, Carlos spoke first. “What are you working on?” He asked, hoping the answer was some sad song about despair. 

Seb giggled. “Love, I’m almost done. Then I’ll play it for you.” 

Carlos swooned internally at the nickname before pressing a kiss down to Seb’s forehead. “Fine. If you insist.” He sighed, scrolling through his Facebook feed. All articles about the fire. He force quit the app, choosing instead to waste his time on Instagram. He huffed a little as he changed the app.

Seb didn’t even look up at him. “Lemme guess, another post on your feed about how the fire was a great tragedy?” Carlos nodded. “Yeah, same. All my aunts and uncles do is post about how sad it was. Like yes, Joshua. I’m aware. Now please donate so we can have a new theatre.” 

Carlos giggled. “You really do always know how to say the right thing, don’t you?”

Seb shrugged, placing his ukelele strap around his shoulder. “I suppose. Now, I think I’m finally ready. But don’t judge me if it sucks.” 

Carlos shook his head. “I could never.”

Carlos sat in bliss as he listened to the song. He recognized it about three words in. “I Got You, Babe.” Cher. 1960s. He could remember his grandmother singing along to the 60’s radio. The memory mixed with the music brought him peace.

And oh, how he loved Seb’s voice. Sure, it was magnificent when he was acting. But when he was just being himself- not Sharpay, but a tame teenager with an affinity for cows- it was even better. 

All good things must come to an end, and as far as Carlos was concerned, the best thing had ended when Seb stopped singing. Seb glanced down at the floor, toying with the bottom of his shoe. He started to suggest that Carlos didn’t like the song, but Carlos shut him down near immediately. “First of all, how did you know that was one of my favorites? Also, further proving my duet point. Come over here.” He says all the words in one breath, as if he’s scared they won’t come out otherwise  
Seb sets down his ukelele and takes the seat next to Carlos, intertwining their hands. “It’s true. Everything I said in the song. I could tell you were feeling down, so I figured might as well whip out some Cher. And for the record, in seventh grade English class, you mentioned loving Cher. So..”

Carlos scoffed. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me since the seventh grade?” He asked, squeezing the blond’s hand.

Seb nodded. “I mean, you were my first crush.” 

Carlos smiled the hardest he had all day. “That’s so cute.” He pressed a kiss to Seb’s cheek and then his lips.

The two boys sat in silence for what was either fifteen minutes to fifteen years. Eventually, the silence was ended when Big Red joined the two, saying something about needing to wake Miss Jenn up. Carlos mouthed something to Seb about going to see what all the fuss was about. 

Seb watched as his boyfriend ran down the stairs. It was at this moment that he realized how much he cared for Carlos Rodriguez. 

The third time might have been Seb’s favorite. It was the only time Carlos had joined in and the most organic time of all of them. The two had planned a study date over winter break. But, it is a well-known fact that nobody studies over winter break. So, there the two boys were, in pajamas, at 9:30 p.m on a Wednesday. Seb was flipping through an old DVD case, trying to determine what sappy movie to watch. He finally landed on The Music Man, an old favorite of his. 

Carlos wasn’t the biggest Music Man fan, he’ll be the first to admit. He was Winthrop in a local production about two years ago. Thirteen is far above Winthrop age if you asked literally anybody who knows The Music Man. But he wasn’t there to watch Marian fall in love with Harold, Tommy and Zaneeta go steady behind the mayor’s back or Harold pioneer the think system. He was there to spend time with Seb. Seb, who was currently singing along to “Sadder But Wiser Girl”, using the dance breaks to mention how sexist the whole show was. 

“I mean, the whole show is so sexist. The biddies’ are so obsessed with Marian’s sex life and get suspicious when a man does something nice for her. Harold says he likes ladies who know what time it is, and that’s totally sexist. And don’t even get me started on the ‘Shipoopi’ That whole sing exists as a way to slut-shame. It’s so-”

Carlos cut Seb off with a kiss. “God, you’re cute when you’re mad.” He said with a smile. “Can’t be as bad as Anything Goes. I mean I love it but Ching and Ling? Cole Porter, what were you thinking?” 

Seb laughed. “I take Anything Goes, which is kind of a show about female empowerment, and I raise you Kiss Me, Kate.” 

Carlos shrugged. “I suppose. Can we go back to the Anything Goes female empowerment point, though? Care to elaborate?”

“Well, nobody expects Reno to change. And Bonnie/Erma/Whatever the fuck her name is is trashy and fab. I think the angels are the most sexist part of the show. It’s obviously super problematic, but it’s better than The Music Man, another show I adore.” 

“God, are there any non-sexist old musicals? Even Hello, Dolly has ‘It Takes A Woman’. I mean, we’re not supposed to agree with Horace, but..” Carlos starts before Seb reciprocates the kiss from earlier. 

“You’re cute when you’re thinking.” He says with a wink. “Now, all this golden age talk has me thinking of ‘It Only Takes A Moment.’ So, I’m gonna pause this, make some smores and play that if you don’t mind.” 

Carlos blushed. “How could I ever?”

As Seb sang along to the ditty, Carlos realized that this was the third duet he had heard his beau sing with no partner. When Irene began to sing with Cornelius, Carlos found himself in the kitchen with Seb, singing and dancing along. Seb sighed contently. He had never been more thankful that only his cat was home with him. Georgia would never let him hear the end of it, had she seen such a sight. 

When the song was over, both boys found themselves enveloped in a hug. They seemed to have a competition as to who could squeeze tighter. 

“You have a really nice voice,” Seb whispered to Carlos. 

Carlos giggled. “It’s nothing compared to yours.”

Seb pressed himself into Carlos’ neck. “Oh, hush. I love it. I love you.”

Carlos’ breath hitched. “I love you, too.”

The two boys said almost nothing for the rest of the night, save for a “Goodnight, my someone.” from Seb before passing out on the couch, Carlos wrapped into his side. 

The fourth time, Carlos paid almost no mind to the music. 

It was mid-April, which, if you ask a bunch of Utah kids who had spent the last four months with the weather in the mid-’40s, was shorts and picnic weather. 

So, there Seb and Carlos were, in the middle of Seb’s farmland, having a picnic. 

Carlos sat, staring off at the field. Seb pressed a kiss to the side of his boyfriend’s forehead before sitting down, his guitar strapped to his back. “Good afternoon, honey.” He whispered, peppering Carlos’ face with kisses. 

Looking back on it, the scene looked like some scene from an indie movie. From the people who brought you Waitress, comes “Two gay teenagers sitting on a farm while one strums his guitar.” or, “PG-13 Brokeback Mountain!” 

“Where did you learn so many instruments?” Carlos eventually asks, taking a bite from a chocolate chip cookie.

Seb smiles. “Oh. Well, my mother, who learned it from my Nana. She tried to teach Georgie, but she just wasn’t interested.”

“Neat. And do you only play love songs?” Carlos says, taking another bite.

Seb blushes. “I play what the people around me make me think of. I play Waitress around Ashlyn. High School Musical songs around Nini. Whatever song from a musical I can get Red to listen to. So, usually Waitress.”

Carlos laughs. “And I get love songs. Noted.” He then stands up. “Well, my ADHD is really starting to kick in, so I’m going to go on a quick run. Feel free to join me.”

Carlos was only running for about four minutes before he could hear Seb following closely behind him, guitar still strapped to his back. “God, you look like Orpheus,” he shouted to the boy behind him. “Hey, that’s kind of cute. My little Orpheus. Songwriter extraordinaire.”

“It would be cuter if I was a songwriter and Orpheus’ lover didn’t die,” Seb shouted back, catching up to Carlos, who had finally stopped running. 

Carlos kissed Seb- a solid one, not just on the cheek- and the two fell into the grass. Seb broke away for air and turned his guitar around, ready to play. He played the obvious choice- “All I’ve Ever Known” from Hadestown. 

Carlos could barely focus on the music, too entranced by his lover’s beauty. His blond hair, which reflected off of the sun beautifully. The subtle freckles that had just started making themselves evident. 

He also found himself focusing on the lyrics themselves. Realizing how much he related to the concept of not being able to let his guard down. When he was with Seb, he was a better him. 

And that’s how he truly knew he was in love with Seb Matthew-Smith. 

The final time was Carlos’ favorite. It was the last day of sophomore year. The two were alone in the music room, just simply existing together. Seb was warming up at the piano, Carlos was scrolling mindlessly through TikToks. 

Eventually, Seb broke the silence. “Hey,” he said quietly, but just loud enough that Carlos could hear him. He motioned for him to come over, before adding on, “I wrote you a song.” 

Carlos raised his eyebrows. “I thought you weren’t a songwriter?” He half-asked. 

Seb smiled. “I wasn’t. But I got some help from Ash, and I realized the best way to describe everything I was feeling was through song. So, here goes nothing.”

Carlos listened to the song. For all he cared, the song could have been as simple as the alphabet. Because it was to him. From his boyfriend. Who he loves. And who loves him. 

As soon as the song was over, Seb sighed deeply. “You hated it, didn’t you?” 

Carlos shook his head. “Are you kidding me? That was the best song I’ve ever heard.” 

Seb smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. Just in case it wasn’t clear, I love you.” 

“Sebby?”

“Yes?”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> leave kudos, leave a comment, talk to me on tumblr @nonbinarysebmatthewsmith / @belikethebluebird. whatever


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